Around a dozen people gathered yesterday at the Boston Coalition for Palestinian Rights’ protest at the JFK Federal Building to protest Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s visit to Washington, D.C., earlier this year.
“Sharon is making war on Palestine, and he is using American tanks and helicopters on an occupied civilian population,” said Nancy Murray, a spokeswoman for the committee.
“The United States and American people are vitally involved in this conflict,” she continued. “Our purpose is to educate people — people must learn to care about what is going on.”
Murray said she and the demonstrators felt is was especially important to get this message across yesterday, as Sharon arrived in Washington, D.C., for his fourth visit in the past year. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has not received any invitations from the Bush administration.
Sharon is expected in his most recent visit to ask the United States to cut off all contact with Arafat due to recent anti-Israeli attacks, according to the Associated Press. Israeli authorities claim Arafat is not doing enough to curb these violent outbreaks.
The U.S. policy since President Bush took office has conducted a pro-Israeli policy, the protesters said. In addition, Secretary of State Colin Powell chided Palestinians last month for not doing enough to end the past 16 months of violence.
According to the Associated Press, a move to cut ties with Arafat would only strengthen the opinion of many Arab countries that the United States is not remaining fair to both sides of the conflict.
“Sharon is the architect of the settlement movement; he wants to take all the land in the West Bank,” Murray said. “Violence works in his favor because he wants the settlements to stay and expand, but they make peace impossible.”
The demonstrators peacefully protested while people heading to places such as immigration services or the IRS waited in long lines, due to increased security, outside the JFK building.
The demonstrators alerted the public to their cause by passing out flyers with phrases such as “Israel can’t have security and occupation” and other information about the Palestinian side of the conflict, a side Murray said is often hard to find in most newspapers.
According to its website, The Boston Coalition for Palestinian Rights is hoping to increase awareness of its side of the conflict. The group is composed of people from all over Boston who believe a just and secure peace for everyone involved will only be accomplished when it is fair for the Palestinian people.
The website said the group is attempting to educate the public through peaceful protests, rallies, teach-ins and media campaigns, as well as scheduled meetings.
“The American people must become educated as to what their tax dollars are going toward,” Murray said. “People should tell their representatives that there has to be a just resolution.”
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